There’s this wonderful new computer game that’s just come out. My friends have it. All of them. Well almost. I’m dying to get it. It’s so cool. I played it at Mano’s house. It was great. I did pretty well with it too. I got to some advanced levels.

You can play it on the computer and Mano has a really good one. He’s so lucky, he gets everything he wants. With my parents, I’ve got to fight and plead and sulk before I can get anything new, even just a pair of shoes. They always think I’ve got enough. I mean, like what’s that all about? Like, what’s enough? When I was born, maybe someone should have told them, ‘you’ve had your kid, now that’s enough!’ Why did they go on and have two more kids after me?
Anyway, this isn’t about my parents at the moment, it’s about this great new game I want to tell you about.
It’s called The Terrorist, see, and you get a whole range of weapons to choose from. I chose the AK47, that’s what the real terrorists always use. At the first level, you’ve got to be the terrorist who’s in a railway station, right? So, you’ve got to carry this bag and it’s really cool ‘cause’ it’s full of explosives. You put it down and then the fireworks start. Then you’ve got to escape because the railway police, who are real slops, come charging at you, but you pull a gun, the one you’ve chosen beforehand. You fire at these guys and you can even kill some ‘innocent bystanders’. I managed to kill almost all the cops and at least thirteen bystanders. It was so great, because you get these great sound effects too. There’s screaming and explosions and gunshots. Well, by this time, my blood was really up and I was sweating a bit, out of excitement, because it feels so real.

The next level takes place in the Parliament building. So you’re really trying to bring the government down. You get a lot of points if you can kill the politicians and parliamentarians. Or at least bring them down. This level is a lot more difficult because the Parliament is guarded by these dudes called the Black Cats and they’re really, really fast. In fact, I got shot thrice by them. I was bleeding to death when I finally managed to throw my grenades and bring down a whole lot of Cats and politicians so that I could get out of there. I was pretty low on health at that point so I had to take a life option and get back, good as new to greet the next level.

This time, we go to New York and it’s so exciting because you get to fly a plane. That’s something I really want to do. So bad that I might become a pilot when I grow up. Though with my eyes, I’m not sure I could make it. My parents keep moaning about how I’m on the computer too much and that I’m ruining my eyes. But hey, they wear glasses too; don’t they think that genes might have something to do with it? Why blame the one bright spark in my otherwise dull life? Anyway, this level now, you’ve got to do a really awesome thing. You’ve got to fly this plane, but you’ve got to fly it right into buildings full of people. Not only that, you’ve got to fly really, really low, because there are radars and all sorts of detectors. If you get detected, then you’re one dead duck. There are these really fast jets that will take off the second they spot you and just shoot you down. Now I have to mention that your plane doesn’t have just you on board, there’s a whole plane load of people. The crazy thing is, you’ve got to carry your explosives and weapons in bits and pieces so that you can get through the ground security system. Then, once you’re on the plane and the service starts of the champagne and wet towels and stuff, brought on by these really hot hostesses, then, bit by bit, you’ve got to start assembling your weaponry! Amazing. Better tank up on that champagne quick, guys, I tell the innocent passengers next to me. Because in a couple of seconds, you’re gonna experience a world of pain! The graphics and all are so real that I really felt like having some of the snacks before going ahead with it. Luckily, Mano’s mom brought some stuff for us to eat just then. Only thing is, she stood behind us as we were playing and got a bit huffy and started tutting and tooting about the game saying that it was horrible and how could they be making games like this for kids. I tell you, these grown up are forever groaning – groan ups!! Ha! Ha! Anyway, we managed to get rid of her and went back to the game just in time. Because our targets came looming up right then. You’d better believe it, of course it was the twin towers. Crazy man. Now, as I said, it’s so real that it was genuinely scary. I mean, I had to take over the plane – a hijack, like, and then fly the damn plane right into the building. If you manage to do it, right, bringing about maximum damage, then you get an extra life. Free, no losing points or anything. Because no way are you going to come out of that one alive. The screaming and all becomes really loud and awesome – I mean, men, women, kids, babies, the whole works, all screaming. Blood and guts spilling. Awesome!

The next level’s a freak because it happens in three places at the same time and you’ve got to be monitoring them altogether. Like you choose which one you want to be at but you’ve got to remain in contact with your teams in the other places and keep telling them what to do. Like you’re the boss terrorist. So this time around, there’s a railway station and two hotels. I decided to storm in the hotel because it was the biggest and so it would be easier to be there directly and have feeds from the other places.? I picked my team. A great bunch of ten highly trained guys who strap themselves with explosives. At the last minute I decide that I’m not going to do that. I don’t want to blow myself up into bite-size pieces. Once we enter the hotel, we’ve got these maps to go by, but, I can hardly read them by now, I’m on such a high, I just start shooting, spraying everything that moves in a rain of bullets. I’ve got loads of ammunition and plenty of back up. There are people jumping around as though the floor has suddenly becoming shot with electricity. There’s glass flying, things smashing and best of all, food that seems to have come alive and taken flight. Unfortunately, by this time, I’m so excited that I shoot a couple of my own guys and get a whole lot of points docked off my total. But the thing is that it’s dark and the security guys and us are dressed pretty much the same. Now there are television crews right outside. Cool! I’m going to be famous.

I’ve taken a whole lot of hostages and I’m getting them all together into a room and I’m also guiding operations in the other hotel and the railway station when Mano’s mum comes in again. When she sees what we’re doing now, killing people left, right and centre, she really freaks out – like a blue fit. Mano tries arguing with her, but she just goes and switches the computer right off. I scream at her, ‘What the hell are you doing????’ before I can stop myself. Then I know I’m in serious trouble. Even Mano, who is mad at her himself, isn’t too pleased with me for yelling at his mum like that.

That’s it. Mano’s mum has banned him from playing The Terrorist again. Apparently she went the whole hog, weeping and crying. She’s also banned me from coming over again. She says I’m too rude. How about how rude it was of her to have pulled the plug on my game when I’d got so far? Cow!
I’ve got to persuade someone to get me The Terrorist, there’s no game like it....
You want to buy it for me?

Author’s note
When my children were little, I first came across the violence present in video and computer games like Road Rash where the player got points for knocking down and even killing innocent people and cops. As they played, they were easily able to get new ‘lives’. These games have always bothered me because they were so well made that it looked like the real thing. This story is just an extension of that worry and a response to all that has happened recently. Maybe it is a mother’s overreaction, but maybe it is not.

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